Let the Craziness Begin....

Maybe I have been fooling myself….but I am just now starting to realize just how complicated it is going to be to have a baby internationally.

I am only 18 weeks pregnant, but I have started to complete the paperwork for our medical visas. Since we will be having our baby in Australia, Caleb and I will need to obtain medical visas in order to be allowed inside the Australian hospital. In order to obtain a medical visa, we each have to be seen by an Australian Panel Doctor. We also need to each get a chest X-Ray (which is a little nerve wracking to get since I am pregnant) and then have those results viewed by the panel doctor. On top of actually being seen by a doctor, there is a stack of paperwork a mile high to be filled out. Once the paperwork is submitted, it takes 4-6 weeks for the medical visas to arrive…..which is why I am having to focus on this now, even though I am still not due for a while.

The most complicated part is that you can’t easily find a panel doctor close by…..this process used to be simpler. There used to be a doctor who worked at a neighboring mission organization in Goroka. Goroka is a 2 hour car ride away from where we currently live. Caleb goes to Goroka often enough that it would have been really easy to catch a ride with him. But, that doctor is not in country and does not plan to be back for at least a year. This means that the next closest panel doctor is either in Madang (a 5 hour car ride or 30 minute flight) or Port Moresby (not accessible by car….plane only….90 minute flight…I think, it might be shorter).
Maybe it might sound like I am complaining, but I am just trying my hardest to give you an idea of what it is really like to live here. It’s bad enough that we have to travel a long way to be seen by a doctor, but also factor in that we have Ben (does he go with us or stay with friends and for how long?), both Caleb and Ben get car sick whenever we drive long distances on PNG roads and that Madang is in a malaria-risky place (a place I was hoping to avoid while pregnant).

Then, there is the cost. I spent all morning trying to figure out how much it will cost for us to go to Madang versus Port Moresby. Initially, we thought we would go to Port Moresby. Caleb is already going there for work on August 3rd. Since his ticket would be paid for, I thought that buying a ticket for me might be worth it. It would be a day trip. Fly down in the morning, Caleb would attend a meeting at the US Embassy, eat lunch, go to our medical visa appointments, then hop on the plane back home. This all looked like THE plan until I found out the cost in Port Moresby versus Madang. It would cost us an extra $200 EACH to be seen by the panel doctor there, than if we went to Madang. There was also the factor that the planes here do no fly if it is foggy and overcast. If weather delayed things, then there was a good chance we would put out all this money and not get anywhere in the medical visa process after all. We looked into staying overnight….at least the Port Moresby flight happens three days a week. But, again, the cost for actually seeing the doctor was insane compared to Madang.

So, this morning, I was actually making arrangements….booking a room, booking flights, making an appointment and such….when I found out how much it would cost.
The second half of the morning was spend researching ways to get to Madang. There is another aviation mission organization here who offers travel subsidies for flying with them. They always have a weekly flight to Madang on Tuesdays and then a flight back to where with live on Wednesdays. However, this subsidy needs to be applied for at least 4 weeks in advance. I spent a fair bit of time this morning completing the application for this subsidy….unlike the Port Moresby flights, Madang flights with our organization are touch and go. There are a few, but it gets complicated because you end up paying more if your plane does not fill up. If you and your family manage to squeeze onto a plane that already has people, you end up paying a fair price. But, if you book your reservation on a flight and it doesn’t fill up with people or cargo, you end up paying a lot more in the long run. You just cannot plan or estimate costs easily this way.

So, currently, we have applied for a travel subsidy with this other mission organization. We hope to fly to Madang on a Tuesday …..then, we will see the doctor in the afternoon and hopefully have all the paperwork and results finished by the next morning. I have not booked a place to stay in Madang yet. Once I know that we are booked on the flights, I will make a reservation at the guest house in Madang (which is really cheap). Then, on Wednesday afternoon, we will hop on a plane and fly back to Ukarumpa. At this point, we do not plan to take Ben…..so hopefully a friend will agree to watch him for the night.

There are still so many unknowns….in fact, as I am typing this post, I just got an e-mail saying we are approved for the subsidy! YAY! Also, the e-mail makes it sound like the flight will get us to Madang in enough time to schedule an afternoon doctor’s appointment. And, the flight leaving on Wednesday will leave late enough for us to pick up our paperwork from the doctor in the morning. PHEW!

Now, I have to call the doctor and make an appointment…..watch him not be in the office on every Tuesday afternoon. You think I am kidding, but this is just what happens here in this country. You NEVER know what to expect. If you are anything like me, then you know how hard it is to live not knowing and not being able to accurately budget, etc.

So….as the name of this post states, “Let the craziness begin….” I think it is only going to get more complicated from here on out….

But, I have to keep some things in perspective. At least I am starting now to plan and think through all this, right? We have good friends here who have a son who just broke his arm and needs surgery in Australia. Essentially, they tried to do all the work that I am doing now in a matter of 48 hours. When they realized their son needed surgery, they had to book the flights last minute, find a ride to Goroka to catch the plane, find a place to stay in Australia (all the usual places are booked), find a car to drive there, obtain their medical visas very quickly and such……so, I am thankful that this is not an emergency or a last minute thing. They have been missionaries much longer than we have….and you can just see the peace that the wife has about how the finances and accommodations will in fact work out in the end. Granted, she is left here in Ukarumpa while her husband and son travel away…..left with two school aged kids and toddler twins to look after. She’s my hero…..seriously! But, all that to say that this is the life we chose for this season in our life....so I am trying to live in a place where I don't freak out as easily about all the things that need to be done to have a baby internationally...

Ok….enough rambling for now…..more to come later….